Tuesday, October 10, 2017

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

October 10th 2017
Tuesday Late Evening Edition






Week 5 Sunday Lineup Killers


There are just some days you can't avoid that pot hole in the road and there are some Sundays where you wish you had avoided that lineup killer. And I'm pretty sure there were some of you that really wished you had avoided starting Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Apparently Big Ben wasn't feeling it on Sunday throwing 5 interceptions with zero touchdowns. Big Ben has been a tough read this season with no strong fantasy performances this season and after Sunday's disaster, you'll be regulating the Steelers quarterback to your bench for the time being.

The Rams running back Todd Gurley was as bad as 5 turnovers, but his low production in Week 5 (50 total yards) definitely hurt fantasy owner's chances for a win. Unlike last season's struggles, fantasy owners can chalk this one up to divisional matchup, Seahawks defense, etc, etc. Gurley has been brilliant this season, so there's no need to panic. This will happen with some of these divisional matchups, but Gurley will bounce back and he'll have those big Sunday's owners drafted him for.

And like Gurley, the Lions running back Ameer Abdullah was disappointing in week 5. At home, Abdullah and the Lions were ambushed by the visiting Panthers. Abdullah was completely shut down, limited to just 31 yards rushing and 3 yards receiving. His performance can be attributed to a good Panthers defense and game flow. The Lions fell behind big and in the 4th quarter became one dimensional going with running back Theo Riddick down the stretch. This was just a bad game for the Lions and not the norm, when the offense is operating Abdullah is going to see the Lion's share. No need to worry, he should bounce back strong next Sunday against the Saints.

One concerning trend in the Lions offense this season has been wide receiver Golden Tate. In a game where the Lions trailed big and had to play catchup, fantasy owners would expect to see a heavy dose of Tate in the pass game. Such was not the case, on Sunday Tate caught all of 5 balls for 48 yards receiving; good enough for the No.39 WR in week 5. In three of his last four starts Tate has scored in single digit fantasy points, a trend that needs to change or fantasy owners may need to start looking for more reliable options.

After 5 weeks it's official, time for fantasy owners to put their Steelers toy wide receiver Martavis Bryant away for a while. With the struggles of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Bryant has not been able to put together a solid Sunday since week 2. He has continued to fall down the fantasy tree (just 5 catches for 21 yards in week 5) and landed at the No.46 fantasy WR spot. He can't be trusted for now, it's time to sit Bryant.

Through 5 weeks of the season, the Lions tight end Eric Ebron (currently the No.48 fantasy TE in PPR) has been collecting dust on your fantasy bench. If you didn't start him back in week one, you probably haven't started him all season and every Sunday he keeps giving you reason to sit him. With the exception of week 2, Ebron has been irrelevant every Sunday. In weeks 1, 3, 4, and 5 he has a total of 7 receptions for 51 yards; that averages to 1.7 catches and 13 yards per game. He's off the fantasy radar for now.

That's My Take

~David Ortega



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